PHILADELPHIA — The Lady Tigers’ shuttle hurdle relay team picked up LSU’s first “Championship of America” relay title Friday afternoon as the second day of competition got underway for the track and field team at the Penn Relays.
The foursome of Kathy Coleman, Angel Boyd, Megan Akre and Jessica Ohanaja topped the competition with a time of 54.24 seconds, a mark that ranks as the ninth fastest in Lady Tigers’ history.
The Penn title was the seventh overall, and the third in the last four years, for Lady Tigers in the event.
“I was really pleased to see the shuttle hurdle relay win again,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “That group turned in one of he top times in program history and I think that really says something. I was very pleased with their effort.”
Just missing out on a second relay title was the women’s 4×100-meter relay team of Sherry Fletcher, Brooklynn Morris, Ohanaja and Kelly Baptiste. The quartet crossed the line in 43.60 seconds, but was bettered by national-leader Texas who finished in 43.00.
On the men’s side, the Tigers’ distance medley relay team of Michael Hendry, Austin Benton, Isa Phillips and Pat Gavin picked up an easy win in the meet’s College Division. The group finished with an outdoor season-best of 9:41.76, a time that ranks as the sixth fastest in Tiger history.
Picking up a pair of top-six finishes were both the men’s and women’s sprint medley relay teams. The women’s squad of Brittany Harris, Deonna Lawrence, Carliesa Meakes and Tanya Osbourne placed fourth with a time of 3:49.77, while the men’s group of Siraj Williams, Amel Alexander, Benton and Jeffrey Parker were sixth with a time of 3:23.33.
In preliminary round action, each of the Tigers’ 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400-meter relay teams, as well as the Lady Tigers’ 4×200-relay squad qualified into tomorrow’s Championship of America finals.
The men’s 4×400 team of Williams, Reggie Dardar, Marvin Stevenson and Melville Rogers posted the field’s top qualifying time of the day at 3:04.78, bettering the nearest competitor by nearly three seconds.
The short relay team of Richard Thomspon, Xavier Carter, Stevenson and Kelly Willie advanced to the final with the meet’s third-best prelim time after winning their heat in 40.10.
In the 4×200, Rogers, Amel Alexander, Thompson and Dardar clocked on a season-best 1:24.08 in moving on.
The Lady Tigers’ 4×200 followed up the Tigers’ effort with another solid performance as Sherry Fletcher, Lawrence, Cynetheia Rooks and Monique Cabral combined to record a time of 1:34.39.
“Every relay that we put on the track today advanced,” said Shaver. “I felt like we had some performances in these preliminary rounds that were encouraging, so I’m looking forward to what’s coming up tomorrow.”
In the open races, LSU advanced athletes in both the 100 meters and the 100 hurdles.
A trio of Lady Tigers, in Kelly Baptiste, Brooklynn Morris and Sherry Fletcher, will comprise one-third of the championship final field in the women’s 100 meters.
Baptiste clocked the fastest prelim time of the field, finishing in 11.25. She was followed by Morris and Fletcher who turned in times of 11.48 and 11.68, respectively.
“It’s nice to be in this position,” said Shaver of qualifying three athletes into the finals. “Last year we couldn’t say the same thing. They are now running with more confidence and it just goes to show what a difference a year can make.”
In the men’s 100 meters, Richard Thompson moved on to second-day action after a posting a 10.53-second effort.
In addition, LSU will be represented by Jessica Ohanaja in the 100-meter hurdles. She won her heat in 13.39 seconds to qualify with the fourth fastest time of the day.
LSU also had three athletes post top-six finishes in the field events. Freshman Ricky Jean-Francois placed fifth in the shot put with a throw of 57-3 ?, while Jeremy Hicks and Andrea Linton each turned in sixth-place showings, recording distances of 24-4 ? in the long jump and 42-3 ? in the triple jump, respectively.
Action from the 112th annual relay carnival wraps up tomorrow afternoon from Penn’s Franklin Field.